"Oh, and Stella—your best friend." His tone shifted to its usual disdain. "I posted the restaurant to my feed, and she immediately latched on saying she wanted to join."
"I didn't want to agree, but you know what she said? That I had to, whether I liked it or not. If I didn't, she'd make things difficult."
"Honestly, if it weren't for you, I'd have blocked her ages ago."
My eyes burned. My throat tightened. I thought about every date Alex and I had gone on—how Naomi always showed up, clinging to my arm, pouting.
"Bestie, you can't ditch your girls just because you have a man. I won't let you choose a guy over your friends."
Every single time she pulled that, even when I wanted Alex to myself, I caved. And Alex had gone from resisting her presence to just... accepting it.
I never noticed anything was off.
His voice pulled me back. I knew what he was waiting for—for me to laugh it off like always. To say, "Naomi's just childish. Don't take it personally." Or, "She's my best friend. Just humor her."
My throat closed up. Getting words out felt impossible.
He asked again.
I finally spoke.
"Alex. Do you like Naomi?"
Silence on the other end.
Brief, but there.